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Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming.
Updated: 1 hour 9 min ago

Laser mapping project shows effects of physical changes in Antarctica's Dry Valleys

Tue, 08/08/2017 - 13:53
Researchers have publicly released high-resolution maps of Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys, a globally unique polar desert.

Researchers crack the 'Karakoram anomaly': Why glaciers near K2 are growing in size

Mon, 08/07/2017 - 10:28
Researchers identify 'Karakoram vortex' and explain why glaciers near K2 are growing in size.

Extreme melt season leads to decade-long ecosystem changes in Antarctic polar desert

Mon, 08/07/2017 - 10:15
An abnormal season of intense glacial melt in 2002 triggered multiple distinct changes in the physical and biological characteristics of Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys over the ensuing decade, report investigators.

Alaska's North Slope snow-free season is lengthening

Thu, 08/03/2017 - 13:10
On the North Slope of Alaska, snow is melting earlier in the spring and the snow-in date is happening later in the fall, according to a new study.

Climate change could put rare bat species at greater risk

Wed, 08/02/2017 - 08:27
An endangered bat species with a UK population of less than 1,000 could be further threatened by the effects of global warming, according to a new study.

Update on the Larsen-C iceberg breakaway

Wed, 08/02/2017 - 07:29
Since an iceberg four times the size of London broke free earlier this month, scientists have continued to track its progress using satellites. Their observations show the Larsen-C story might not be over yet.

Glaciers may have helped warm Earth

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 15:44
Weathering of Earth by glaciers may have warmed the planet over eons by aiding the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A new study shows the cumulative effect may have created negative feedback that prevented runaway glaciation.

Methane-eating microbes may reduce release of gases as Antarctic ice sheets melt

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 12:41
A lake beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet contains large amounts of methane and describes how methane-eating microbes may keep the climate-warming gas from entering the atmosphere.

Loss of Arctic sea ice impacting Atlantic Ocean water circulation system

Mon, 07/31/2017 - 10:46
Arctic sea ice is not merely a passive responder to the climate changes occurring around the world, according to new research. Scientists say the ongoing Arctic ice loss can play an active role in altering one of the planet's largest water circulation systems: the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

Summer sea ice melt in the Arctic

Mon, 07/24/2017 - 12:31
Earlier this year Arctic sea ice sank to a record low wintertime extent for the third straight year. Now NASA is flying a set of instruments north of Greenland to observe the impact of the melt season on the Arctic's oldest and thickest sea ice.

Mountain glaciers recharge vital aquifers

Fri, 07/21/2017 - 08:54
Small mountain glaciers play a big role in recharging vital aquifers and in keeping rivers flowing during the winter, according to a new study. The study also suggests that the accelerated melting of mountain glaciers in recent decades may explain a phenomenon that has long puzzled scientists -- why Arctic and sub-Arctic rivers have increased their water flow during the winter even without a correlative increase in rain or snowfall.

Ancient Italian fossils reveal risk of parasitic infections due to climate change

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 14:53
In 2014, a team of researchers found that clams from the Holocene Epoch (that began 11,700 years ago) contained clues about how sea level rise due to climate change could foreshadow a rise in parasitic trematodes. Now, an international team has found that rising seas could be detrimental to human health on a much shorter time scale.

Hot dogs: Is climate change impacting populations of African wild dogs?

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 09:05
Climate change may be harming the future of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) by impacting the survival rates of pups, according to one of the first studies on how shifting temperatures are impacting tropical species.

Removing CO2 from the air required to safeguard children's future

Tue, 07/18/2017 - 10:37
Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is not enough to limit global warming to a level that wouldn't risk young people's future, according to a new study by scientists who say we need negative emissions. Measures such as reforestation could accomplish much of the needed CO2 removal from the atmosphere, but continued high fossil fuel emissions would demand expensive technological solutions to extract CO2 and prevent dangerous warming.

Stronger winds heat up West Antarctic ice melt

Mon, 07/17/2017 - 10:54
Stronger winds 6000kms away on the East Antarctic, have generated waves that circle the continent at almost 700kmh. When these waves meet the steep underwater topography of the West Antarctic Peninsula they push warm water under the ice shelves. This helps explain the increased ice melt in this region that can lead trillion tonne ice shelves, like Larsen C, to break away from the continent.

Chillier Winters, Smaller Beaks

Thu, 07/13/2017 - 07:20
Although Charles Darwin lived and worked in the 19th century, modern evolutionary biologists are far from exhausting all avenues of inquiry regarding birds and evolution. For example, in the 1990s, researchers began to explore a new question concerning the relationship between climate and the evolution of beak size.

The one trillion ton iceberg: Larsen C Ice Shelf rift finally breaks through

Wed, 07/12/2017 - 10:05
A one trillion tonne iceberg -- one of the biggest ever recorded -- has calved away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica, after a rift in the ice finally completed its path through the ice.

Most comprehensive database on past global changes is online

Tue, 07/11/2017 - 11:56
Climate scientists will now be able to more accurately study the pattern and causes of global surface temperature changes than was previously possible, thanks to a large international team of scientists contributing to PAGES (Past Global Changes).

Warm winter events in Arctic becoming more frequent, lasting longer

Tue, 07/11/2017 - 11:15
Arctic winter warming events -- winter days where temperatures peak above 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius) -- are a normal part of the climate over the ice-covered Arctic Ocean. But new research by an international team that includes NASA scientists finds these events are becoming more frequent and lasting longer than they did three decades ago.

Does the European public understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean?

Tue, 07/11/2017 - 07:55
Although many are relatively well informed, an alarming number remain either uninformed or misinformed when it comes to the impacts of climate change on the ocean, a new in-depth study of the European public's awareness shows. Many believe that Arctic sea-ice is already completely lost during the summer and that sea temperatures have already risen by more than 2°C. Climate science needs to be effectively communicated to the public so that citizens demand climate action.

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